The campaign and victory of Barack Obama were historic. In leading up the election I received a text that said, “Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama ran so our children can fly!” This message, while inspirational, demonstrates the ways that one of the most historic and powerful presidential runs ever gets looked over, if not just downright ignored. In 1972, the campaign of Shirley Chisholm broke both the gender and race barrier in American presidential politics, but her campaign is still relatively unknown. Let me start this with an admission, I knew thatChisholm ran in 1972 but I had no idea about the discourse she pushed, assassination attempts, and what was certainly more than a symbolic run. After watching Chisholm 72- Unbossed and Unbought, I was amazed at her vision, inspired by her bravery, and humbled by the ways we leave her out of history. That is a living example of why we need herstory, particularly within the Black community.

People were shocked by the passage of Prop 8 and the votes of African-Americans… should we be? “In many ways, folks have been shocked that voting for Left or progressive politics doesn’t necessarily mean that you support social justice or equality for all. I can’t help but think that we have assumed for far too long that coming from a certain background, speaking a certain tongue, wearing certain buttons inherently connects our struggles for justice. In reality, a social justice orientation is taught one, a lived one, a challenging one. If we are not forever questioning our oppressions and our own privileges I’ve come to believe we are playing party or ideological politics, not engaging in politics of change and justice. Our inability to see our connectedness and divergences in our struggles have ended up making justice for “just us.”

While most folks will look at the election of Obama as act of racial transcendence, in reality, it represents one of the most sophisticated, yet grounded electoral campaigns in modern history. Having working with the Democratic party in the past, I can imagine the transition to the Obama model of organizing wasn’t without bumps and imperfections, but the end result was powerful. Despite Guiliani and Palin smearing (and this was indeed a smear to them) community organizers, the Obama campaign embrassed these everyday folks with a deep commitment for community development and change. While many of us contributed in our own ways to the campaign, I am forever impressed and indebted to the brave folks who went to organizing for the Obama Campaign fulltime. I’m thinking particular of folks who gave up steady jobs for the prospect of a campaign that was often counted out before he began. My hat is off to the folks I know personally who made that sacrifice and brought the victory home…